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Perth: England face Australia in the third Test in Perth on Thursday knowing another victory would retain the Ashes.
Having won the second Test at Adelaide by an emphatic innings and 71 runs, England are highly fancied to win their first series in Australia since 1986-87.
Stuart Broad has been ruled out for the rest of the tour, with paceman Chris Tremlett tipped to take his place.
Australia are without Simon Katich so Phil Hughes opens the batting, while Steve Smith has also been recalled.
Should 29-year-old Tremlett take his place in the pace bowling unit alongside Steven Finn, 21, they would have only 13 Test appearances between them.
But James Anderson, who is ready to play after briefly returning home to England to witness the birth of his second child, has 54 caps and is relishing the role of senior seamer.
In addition to Tremlett, who has taken 13 wickets in three Tests, the last of which was in 2007, England also have Yorkshire all-rounder Tim Bresnan and his county colleague seamer Ajmal Shahzad in contention for a place in the side.
All three played in a tour match against Australia A at Hobart before the first Test, Tremlett taking seven wickets in the match, Bresnan six and Shahzad three as England won by 10 wickets.
Australian opener Hughes had a traumatic start to his Test career when he departed for a fourth ball duck in the opening over of the first Test against South Africa in Johannesburg in February 2009.
But he made 75 in the second innings before a pair of centuries in the next Test at Durban.
In seven Tests he has scored 615 runs at an impressive average of 51.25, but has managed only 201 at 22.33 in first-class cricket for New South Wales this season.
Left-hander Hughes is determined to play his natural attacking game in the Test match, and has even likened his style to India's cavalier opener Virender Sehwag.
Leg-spinner Smith, who began his Test career with the two games against Pakistan played in England in July, has taken three wickets and averages 25 with the bat, having made 77 at Headingley.
He has recorded four first-class centuries, however, and may bat as high as six at Perth.
"I have always wanted to play in the Australian side as a batsman," the 21-year-old said Smith, who could also form a spin partnership with uncapped Western Australia slow left-armer Michael Beer.
Beer, who was brought into the squad to replace another left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty despite having only played six first-class matches, received a less than glowing reference from Darryl Foster, who was on the Western Australia selection panel that picked him for Sheffield Shield domestic cricket.
Team from
Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Doug Bollinger, Xavier Doherty, Brad Haddin (wk), Michael Hussey, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Shane Watson, Marcus North, Ryan Harris, Michael Beer, Phillip Hughes
England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (vice-captain), Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wk), Steve Davies (wk), Tim Bresnan, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Chris Tremlett, Monty Panesar, Graeme Swann.
Pitch and conditions
Meanwhile the groundsman at Perth's Waca believes the wicket is beginning to show signs of the pace and bounce that became its trademark in years gone by. Curator Cam Sutherland said there had been steady improvement since the wicket block was re-laid three years ago and he expected the surface to regain its quick reputation in the next few years. Sunny conditions are forecast throughout the game, with maximum temperatures above 30C.
Stats and trivia
Match facts
December 16-20, 2010
Start time 10:30 local (02:30 GMT)
